“But you did not depend on Him who made it…. What right do you have here?” [Isaiah 22.11, 16 NASB]

It is possible, like Joseph and Mary when they were at the Passover, to continue to do, without question or reflection, what you believe is right and yet, at the same time, be committing a major mistake, with unforeseen consequences.

At that time, the people were deeply aware of the many deficiencies in the wall of Jerusalem and, therefore, she was vulnerable to an attack from one, if not, all of her enemies at different times.

Therefore, the people used whatever knowledge they had acquired and set out, with the combination of energy and skill, to correct all the gaps in the wall and rebuild the infrastructure of the city.

If we had been there, we would probably have put our shoulder to the task and worked with all the people, for, after all, they were freely giving their time, resources and labour to building up the city of God. Surely, they cannot be wrong.

But wrong they were. Just like Joshua had behaved in relation to the Gibeonites, they had deliberately omitted to ask God for His advice and therefore they were relying on and working in the flesh.

God had brought the city into being and, as to be expected, He had a plan for its restoration. Now, in the church of today, it is all too possible to do what is right in God’s kingdom and yet, not be rightly related to Him, His vision and His timing for that particular aspect of the work.

What then should we be doing? The answer is two-fold, like David, we need to receive from the Lord His blueprint [1 Chron. 28.11, 19] and we also need to have, like Solomon and Hiram, the right people in the right place at the right time.

In the time of Isaiah and Nehemiah, the wrong men were in key positions. Hence, the God-anointed and appointed leaders of the work had to move them out of the way and replace them with godly and upright men.

We often find, in the work of God, that if we are wrong at the commencement of a task, we will also make mistakes in the personnel we choose as we continue in the work.

After my conversion, in my first Sunday in church, I had a vision of the Lord, standing over our nation with a drawn sword in His hands.

He has the same sword in the Revelation, in relation to the churches. Maybe, it is time to pray, “Lord, help us, this time, to get it right.” [David McArdle]
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